Inside Homes - Summer 2016

HOME LIFE Real Estate News and Open House I Inside Homes and My Washington

;IIOIRH 6IXVIEX Sean and Kellee Glass turn a historic Queenstown estate into a gathering place for family and friends.

BY VIRGINIA COYNE PHOTOGRAPHS BY TONY BROWN

HOME LIFE | INSIDE HOMES

ean and Kellee Glass were searching for a getaway house on the water within an hour and half drive of their Georgetown residence when they found Bowlingly Estate in the winter of 2014. The property— ten acres at the mouth of the Chester River in Queenstown, Md.—fit the bill. The stately main house had seven bedrooms, where they could put up family and friends, and the sprawling grounds were perfect for their two young boys to explore. Plus, the listing boasted a pool and pool house, dock, guest house and caretaker’s cottage.

The estate’s historic significance was an added bonus.

Bowlingly, built in 1733, is said to have been the local militia’s headquarters during the War of 1812. British ships landed there in August 1813 and pillaged the house, slashing paintings, tearing out staircases and stealing the silver. “Rumor has it there are still cannonballs in the walls,” Kellee says, “but we’ve never actually seen them.”

For about 20 years beginning in 1895, according to documents in the Maryland state archives, the house was used as a hotel. Renamed the Ferry House Inn, it served passengers of the Baltimore-Queenstown Ferry who docked at the Bowlingly Wharf to await the train to Easton via a narrow-gauge railroad. An amusement park was also reportedly built on the property, although any signs of it remain undiscovered. “I need to get a metal detector,” Sean says with a laugh.

During the inn years, the house was painted yellow, hiding the decorative brickwork, and a long porch and Victorian cornice were added, altering the roof line.

Homeowners in the mid-1950s removed the yellow paint, porch and cornice, restoring the house to it’s original glory.

Over the last 250 years, wings have been added to the structure, but the Glasses say they don’t plan to change a

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OPENING PAGE: Sean and Kellee Glass and sons Alex, 5, and Zachary, 3, with their dog Sawyer on the lawn of Bowlingly, a 10-acre historic property in Queenstown, Md. at the mouth of the Chester River. The couple has filed permits to allow the estate to be used for weddings, and expect the process to be finalized this fall.

PREVIOUS PAGE (clockwise from top left): The coffee table in the formal living room is a repurposed antique Chinese ox cart purchased at the estate sale of an art collector in Key West; the treelined driveway leads to the front door of the main house, which was built in 1773; the painted panels on easels in the dining room depict Eastern Shore hunt scenes and were cut out of the wall during a renovation by previous owners; four Indonesian cane chairs, also acquired in Key West, line the back side of the living room.

THIS PAGE (clockwise from top left); The painting above the living room fireplace is one of three in the house by British artist Sue Fitzgerald, whom the couple discovered while living in London; a double staircase and handpainted wallpaper greet guests in the foyer; a charming upstairs guest room is painted in mint green and features floral wallpaper with matching curtains and cushions on the window seat; the pool is a favorite family gathering place.

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thing right now. They purchased the house nearly fully furnished and have only added a few pieces of their own, including a coffee table made from an old Chinese ox cart and Indonesian cane chairs purchased at the estate sale of an art collector in Key West, Fla. where the couple has a winter home. Three colorful paintings by British artist Sue Fitzgerald, whom they discovered while living in London, are above the fireplaces in the dining room, living room and study.

Kellee likes to sit in the spacious, sun-filled living room because “it’s so light and airy that you never have to turn the lights on,” but both agree that being outside, roasting marshmallows and watching the sunset with family and friends is their favorite thing to do.

Sean, a tech entrepreneur and investor, also hosts an annual “Tech Day on the Bay” at the estate, an office barbecue of sorts for the metropolitan Washington tech community featuring bouncy houses, bocce ball and three-legged races.

Although they come to Queenstown almost every weekend in the summer, the Glasses say they’d love to see the property used for weddings, and have filed for the necessary permits, a process they expect to be complete this fall. Friends Allen Gannett and Trever Faden were married at Bowlingly last year.

“Being married on the water in a house that was built in the early 1700s was an incredible experience,” Gannett says. “The water made it feel comfortable and peaceful, while the house and grounds gave it a classical feeling that couldn’t easily be replicated.”

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